Participants: Barbara Nolen (Host), Jennifer White
Series Code: LCT
Program Code: LCT000014
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00:01 No matter how many people you cook for,
00:03 you will always face the dilemma 00:05 of what to do with your leftovers. 00:07 Today, we're going to show you some great ways 00:10 to make a delicious meal out of those luscious leftovers. 00:13 So don't go away. 00:47 Welcome to Let's Cook Together. 00:49 I'm Barbara Nolen and our guest cook today 00:52 is Jennifer White from Hardyville, Kentucky. 00:55 She teaches nutrition classes that has some wonderful ideas 00:58 to share with us today on how to use leftovers 01:01 to make delicious meals. 01:03 Welcome to our show, Jennifer. 01:05 Thank you. Good to be here. 01:06 Well, I'll tell you, I have all of these leftovers 01:10 from previous meals and I'm hoping 01:12 you can give me some ideas 01:14 of how to use them to make a nice meal. 01:16 Tell me what you have. 01:17 Well, I got leftover mashed potatoes. 01:19 These are lentils I cooked in my crock pot. 01:23 You can also cook them on the stove 01:25 but I like to do them in a crock pot 01:26 because they make them so tender. 01:28 Yes, that's our favorite way to cook them too. 01:29 We just put the water to cover it well 01:31 and cook them overnight. 01:33 But you have leftovers, 01:34 now not quite enough for another main dish. 01:37 No. 01:38 I also have some tomato sauce, some tomato paste. 01:42 I've got some leftover cooked brown rice, 01:47 some whole wheat bread. 01:48 God, it's just too old not fresh anymore. 01:50 Yeah. okay. 01:51 But you do with just two little slices. 01:53 And I've got some leftover corn bread, 01:55 just two little pieces. Okay. 01:57 Half an onion. 01:59 One carrot. Okay. 02:00 And a little bit of leftover broccoli. 02:03 So what can I do with this? 02:05 Let's see what you got here. 02:07 I think that we could make a very nice meal 02:09 out of these leftovers. 02:10 Okay, you said you have lentils and, you know, 02:14 we can make these into bread crumbs. 02:17 And an onion and we have some seasonings on hand 02:21 and that I know let's I have a recipe for a lentil loaf. 02:25 Oh. That sounds wonderful. 02:27 Yes, let's make lentil loaf. Okay. 02:30 Well, let me share that recipe with you. All right. 02:31 Well, I can read the recipe for you. 02:34 For lentil loaf ingredients are: 02:57 I think that lentil loaf is such a wonderful dish 03:01 because it uses the legumes that are so good for us. 03:05 Legumes are such a--you know, lentils are legume 03:07 and they are such a valuable part of healthy diet 03:09 because they are high in fiber, they are low in fat, 03:13 they are full of minerals like, 03:15 lentils are specially high in zinc and it's just 03:19 a great--legumes are great product to use. 03:23 So I'm excited that we can make our lentil loaf here. 03:25 Isn't that good we have such a wonderful flavor to lentil. 03:28 Yes, they do and they are very versatile. 03:30 So we're just gonna show you one way today 03:32 that we can use them. 03:33 But before we, we start mixing anything, 03:36 those the leftover onion that you had, let saute it. 03:39 Because a lot of times onions taste a little better sauteed. 03:43 Sometimes they are kind of strong if you put in a dish 03:46 without sauteing will reverse it. 03:47 Don't you love that aroma that makes through your whole heart. 03:49 They make everything taste better. 03:51 So we put the onion in here. 03:54 We're using 03:58 one half of a small onion but, 04:01 you know, if you like more onion 04:02 you can use more onion or less if you want to use less. 04:05 Now while we're waiting for those to saute, 04:08 let's use the lentils--we got two and half cups 04:12 of your leftover lentils here. 04:14 We're gonna put them in a bowl. 04:16 For this recipe it's very important 04:18 that your lentils are dry. 04:21 So if you haven't cooked your lentils to be dry, 04:25 then you can use one of these strainers and pour your lentils 04:30 preferably hot lentils into the strainer 04:33 and let it sit on a dish for a while 04:36 and the liquid will drain out, 04:38 so that you end up with dry lentils. 04:39 Okay. If you don't use dry lentils, 04:41 you probably have lentil casserole in that lentil loaf 04:44 but it would still taste good. 04:45 Well, that's a good tip to know. 04:47 Okay, since we're trying to make lentil loaf well. 04:50 Yeah, you wouldn't want it to be too wet. 04:51 Right. So we have-- and if you do want to, 04:54 if you don't have leftover lentils 04:55 and you still want to make this recipe, 04:57 you can always start from scratch. 04:59 You use two and a quarter cups of water 05:01 with one cup of lentils, dry lentils 05:04 that you buy in a bag from the grocery store. 05:06 So if the lentils through take out any debris, 05:10 stones things like that. 05:11 Wash them in a colander, you know 05:13 all this because you cook the lentils. 05:15 And-- 05:17 when you cook them on a stove 05:19 with one cup of cooked lentils 05:21 to two and a quarter cups of water 05:23 and you end up with some very dry lentils 05:26 that's perfect for the lentil loaf. 05:27 Or like we said before you can do it in a crock pot. 05:29 Right, and then just drain them. 05:31 Okay. Okay, so we have our lentils 05:34 and we took that old stale bread 05:38 that nobody wanted to eat and we made into bread crumbs. 05:42 Now we're going to mix that. 05:45 One in three quarters cup of bread crumbs 05:47 and we're going to mix that into the lentils. 05:51 Our onions are still sauteing so we will add our seasonings. 05:55 A half of a teaspoon of basil, 05:58 half a teaspoon of garlic powder, 06:03 half of the teaspoon of oregano, 06:07 two teaspoons of salt and we'll mix that up. 06:13 Maybe I let you mix that while I check on our onions. 06:16 Well, these bread crumbs would have absorbed 06:18 some of the moisture too. Yes. 06:20 That's one reason for the bread crumbs, 06:22 it makes it a firm loaf. 06:26 Our onions are just about done of course 06:29 sometimes--few times I have put raw onions 06:32 in the lentil loaf and it still tasted good. 06:35 But I always think it taste better 06:36 when you saute them first. 06:38 So I think they are looking good here. 06:41 We're always trying to find more ways to add legumes 06:45 to our diet and I think that lentil loaf is a, is a good one. 06:51 We put our half of a small onion in there and stir that up. 06:56 This is a very thick mixture. I sometimes-- 06:59 That's why they're so good. 07:00 Oh, good. 07:02 Sometimes I have my son 07:03 do the stirring on this one for me because 07:06 it's supposed to be stiff. 07:07 You want it really, really stiff. 07:12 Let's add now our six ounces of tomato paste. 07:16 Okay. Here we go. 07:19 I guess I need to use your spoon. 07:21 Six ounces of tomato paste and that's how it comes 07:23 in the can in the store, six ounces. 07:27 And what I've found once it gets to this texture, 07:30 this big fork works really well 07:34 because you must have to cut it in. 07:37 Mash it through it. Right. 07:42 And then we're going to use 07:44 your leftover tomato sauce for the topping of our lentil loaf 07:52 and it makes it very beautiful dish. 07:54 And I'm sure you've heard about 07:56 all the good health benefits with tomatoes. 08:00 They have lycopene in them which is an antioxidant. 08:05 A lot of vitamin C too. 08:06 Yes, a lot of vitamin C. 08:08 Did you know that tomatoes had calcium in them? 08:10 No, I don't think I did. 08:11 I think that's so interesting how God 08:14 put calcium not just in a few little things 08:17 but many, many things. 08:19 Oranges have calcium in them. 08:21 Of course we know that greens are good source of calcium, 08:25 specially, kale and things like that. 08:31 But even tomatoes have a little bit of calcium in them. 08:36 So once we get this, this always-- 08:39 when it gets to this point it always reminds 08:40 me of when I was little 08:43 my mom used to make meat loaf 08:44 and it looks like meat loaf, it's like orange--orange look. 08:49 As you mix it, like I said a very thick mixture 08:52 and you want to really, really work it in there. 08:58 Chop up the tomato paste in with the lentils really well. 09:04 Then when you had it all mixed up, 09:06 then you need to choose 09:07 what shape you want your lentil loaf to be in. 09:11 I like about this size pan, I like to make two of these 09:15 and have very small pieces of lentil loaf 09:17 and then drizzle the tomato sauce on top. 09:19 This recipe will make two of these pans. 09:23 If you want to use a larger pan, you could do that or you could 09:28 fill this pan up really high 09:31 and so you have a taller lentil loaf. 09:34 So let's put-- I guess which way 09:36 you did it determined how long you would bake them? 09:38 It really bakes varies just by a few minutes. 09:42 So it does really well. 09:44 At home of course for time we didn't mix this as well, 09:48 plus it's really a tough mixture but at home 09:51 you want to mix this just a little bit better 09:53 until it's really orange looking actually. 09:56 We'll pad it in there. 09:59 Another little trick you can use once you get this 10:01 all in there is you can take some plastic wrap 10:06 and put it over the top and smash it down right 10:10 it makes a very smooth top. 10:13 You will want to make sure 10:15 that you really pack it in there tightly 10:17 so that when you cut your loaf, its firm. 10:20 Yeah, it won't crumble that way. 10:23 Right, right. All right, 10:26 well, we've got it in there so now what we want to do 10:30 is put it in the oven and we'll bake it for about 40 minutes 10:36 for this size, up to 50 minutes for a larger size loaf. 10:42 We can also--after 40 minutes we can take it out of the oven 10:47 and put the tomato sauce on top and then put it in the oven 10:52 for a few more minutes to let the, the sauce bake in with 10:55 the lentil loaf and that's really good. 10:57 So it's a very--as you can see it's a very flexible dish 10:59 because you have leftover corn bread and you have 11:02 leftover wheat bread and we just used both. 11:05 Whatever you have, whatever bread crumbs 11:07 you have available works fine. 11:10 And we'll have how much onion you like works fine 11:14 and so it's a versatile dish. 11:16 Well, let me get the finished product so everyone can see. 11:19 Oh, it looks so good. 11:26 That's lovely. 11:29 It is and it's very good for you. 11:30 We know that lentils are like I said are good source of zinc 11:33 but they are also a good source of iron, 11:35 just a really healthful main dish. 11:37 Now this dish will go really well with brown rice or potatoes 11:42 with a salad and if you have leftovers of the lentil loaf 11:47 which is unlikely, then you can serve 11:49 them cold on a sandwich with some type of a-- 11:52 Oh, yes, it will make a good sandwich, wouldn't that? 11:53 Yes. It's very good cold. 11:55 A lot of people who I've helped make the transition 12:00 to a diet that's centered around meat to a diet 12:05 that's centered around plant foods have said that this loaf 12:09 is their very favorite of all the recipes I've given them. 12:11 I can't wait to try it. 12:13 Maybe it reminds them of meatloaf. 12:15 And it's simple, simple ingredients. 12:18 Things anyone would have in their kitchen. 12:19 Yes, and it's very pretty and attractive. 12:22 So didn't you say you had some other 12:26 leftovers not just lentils? 12:28 I do, I do. Let me get them for you. 12:30 Potatoes. Yes, I have these leftover mashed potatoes. 12:33 Okay. The leftover brown rice. 12:36 What we can do with potatoes and brown rice. 12:38 And a carrot. 12:40 A carrot and you had some broccoli and what onion. 12:43 Yes. I think that we can, 12:44 I think we can do something with that. 12:46 I think that we can make some vegetable patties with that. 12:49 Okay. I want you to read the recipe. 12:51 Okay, I'll do that. 12:53 The recipe for the Patties is: 13:18 Well, let's start this recipe the same way 13:20 we started the other one by sauteing this onion. 13:22 Okay. Always taste better sauteed. 13:24 We'll also gonna add some garlic to our vegetable patties. 13:28 But onion takes a little bit longer 13:30 to saute, the garlic will burn. 13:32 So we'll get the onions sauteing till they burn up a little. 13:37 And then after they start to get a little bit 13:39 soft you can add the garlic to it. 13:43 Now, I'm so glad that you had leftover potatoes 13:47 because potatoes are so good for you. 13:50 They are fat free and lot of times people 13:53 think potatoes have fat in but they really 13:55 don't have any fat in them at all at all 13:57 and they are cholesterol free of course. 13:59 They are a good source of minerals 14:01 and about a medium potato has about a 100 calories 14:04 so it's a good option for our meal. 14:07 Oh, I love potatoes, they are my favorite vegetable. 14:08 Yes. We're gonna get some good aroma 14:10 is going here when you left to sauteing. 14:12 Now if you don't have mashed potatoes, 14:13 if you just have like boiled potatoes for leftovers, 14:17 you can always smash them 14:18 and they work fine in this recipe too. 14:20 So it's versatile. Right. 14:22 That's the way leftover recipes have to eat 14:24 'cause you never know exactly what you gonna have. 14:27 So we'll saute our onions and then we'll add garlic. 14:31 If you're not a garlic lover like I am, 14:33 you can leave it out but garlic is so good. 14:36 We appreciate. Such wonderful flavor. 14:39 It is. Gives things. 14:41 Yes, and very good for you. 14:43 It's an excellent antioxidant. 14:45 So I like to add more garlic 14:46 into our food whenever we can. 14:50 Now the vegetables. 14:52 The recipe says vegetables, 14:55 so again whatever you have the thing that I think 14:58 the type of vegetables that I think taste better 15:00 in this recipe are carrots and broccoli 15:06 but experiment and use the type of vegetables 15:09 you have on hand you may like it. 15:11 Another advantage to this recipe besides using leftovers 15:15 is that you can chop of these vegetables really, really small 15:19 and it's a good way to get your vegetable 15:21 hated child to eat vegetables. 15:23 Fool them. Yes. If you--I've done it in a food processor 15:27 where they are just little pieces and you hardly 15:29 see them in there and they gobble them up. So... 15:33 All mothers had to resort to such things at times. 15:36 Yes, we do. So we'll forget our vegetable-- 15:39 our garlic and onion nice and sauteed and then 15:44 when they are nice just we want them soft, 15:48 but they don't need to be browned, 15:50 just nice and soft. 15:51 We'll turn the heat off and then we'll add our vegetables. 15:53 Today we have broccoli, 15:55 and the summer squash, and the carrots. 15:58 We do think that they taste better cooked but carrots 16:03 do well raw and summer squash does okay raw, 16:07 the broccoli taste little better cooked. 16:08 But again this is a leftover meal 16:10 so experience in with what you have. 16:12 Lot of times we'll serve broccoli with our meal 16:14 and just have a few spears left and this is where it goes. 16:19 So we add our vegetables to them 16:23 and then we're going to put our vegetables in here. 16:27 You want to put the mashed potatoes in? 16:28 Yes. We're using two cups of leftover mashed potatoes. 16:31 Again you can little more, little less 16:34 depending on what you have. 16:36 This is going to be a tough one to mix up. 16:39 We'll put some leftover brown rice in with our potatoes. 16:43 Okay. We like to use brown rice 16:44 because it has the fibers and the essential fatty acids 16:48 that when you make brown rice 16:50 into white rice are removed. 16:52 So we always want to use brown rice. 16:54 You can use as much as you want. 16:58 That looks good. 17:00 Shall we add the vegetables now? 17:01 Okay. In our vegetables we have fairly large 17:06 so that you can see but again 17:08 if you're dealing with a picky eater, 17:10 cut those vegetables up really small. 17:13 And I add the seasonings while you mix. Okay. 17:15 We've one teaspoon, one teaspoon of onion powder. 17:19 That is really the key. 17:21 It makes very nice flavor. 17:24 One teaspoon salt. 17:28 And you can vary while if you're trying to 17:29 cut back on the amount of salt. 17:30 You can use little less. 17:32 And one teaspoon of dried parsley. 17:35 And we'll mix those up nicely. 17:39 And then you can take these 17:42 and you can put--make them into patties 17:44 with your hands or I have a little patty maker that I use. 17:49 Also you can use a cookie scoop. Yes. 17:53 And that's actually the fastest way to make them, 17:55 to scoop it out with the cookie scoop 17:58 and put it on your baking pan. 18:00 Then use something to flatten them. 18:01 Right. I use a glass jar, put a little bit of cooking spray 18:06 on it and just--all of on the baking pan 18:09 and you have cute little potato nuggets. Yeah. 18:13 We've made in a recipe right now, potato nuggets. Yes. 18:16 Perfect, we got this mixed up fairly well. Okay. 18:19 And I think we have final product over there. Yes, we do. 18:22 Want to see what they look like when they are done. 18:24 These are ones that I've made with my hands. 18:27 And again you can experiment with different shapes 18:30 however you would like them to be. 18:32 That looks so delicious. 18:33 And you can see-- And all from leftovers? 18:34 Yes, all from leftovers, except for our bread. 18:37 So I thought that I would tell you 18:39 that we have a home-- very good 18:42 homemade bread recipe in my cookbook. 18:44 Oh, good, you have a cookbook. 18:45 That's wonderful? 18:46 It's called "In Good Health" and I believe 18:49 that you can get a resource sheet from 3ABN. 18:52 Yes. All you have to do is call 3ABN 18:54 and we'll be happy to send you one. 18:56 Okay, we have it served here with our lentil loaf, 18:58 and our homemade bread roll, 19:01 and our vegetable patties, 19:03 but it seems to be missing one thing. 19:05 I think we need a nice salad to go with it. 19:07 You know, how salad will really round out the meal. 19:09 What about the sauce? 19:12 You know, you can make your own sauce 19:15 because a lot of times the sauce in the store 19:19 has many harmful spices in it and you can make it at home. 19:22 You can use beneficial herbs instead of spices. 19:25 So what I do if I don't have time 19:28 to do it from fresh tomatoes, I take crushed tomatoes 19:31 from the store and add herbs like oregano, 19:35 and basil, and onion, and garlic and it makes a wonderful sauce. 19:39 And there's no exact recipe to it because 19:41 you add it to how you-- to your taste. To your taste. 19:44 Right, and that's a good way to avoid 19:46 the harmful spices that you can find. 19:48 Oh, that's wonderful. 19:49 So let's make a good style of dressing 19:51 to go with the salad. 19:53 That's just a wonderful idea. 19:54 We have some cashew dressing. Okay. 20:11 You know, this is really a very simple recipe. 20:13 Often we buy dressings in the store 20:16 because of convenience and they are rather expensive. 20:20 Yes. But with the recipe this simple 20:22 its no problem to make it at home, is it? No, it's not. 20:24 It has to me much more nutritious 20:27 and it doesn't have all these preservatives. 20:29 Yes, it really is much more healthful 20:32 and I just have to tell you this. 20:35 It's so easy that my son is usually 20:38 the one who makes the salad dressing, 'cause it's just... 20:41 Nice to have help in the kitchen from your kids. 20:43 And he likes a lot of that. 20:45 That's great. He's a motivator. 20:47 But it is very healthful, one of the reasons 20:50 is because the base is not a diary product 20:53 or an oil instead its cashews. 20:56 And cashews of course are nuts that are very nutritious. 20:59 They are high in fiber, they are high in vitamin E, 21:03 they are a good source of zinc. 21:04 So it's very good to use cashews as a base. 21:09 So we put one cup of cashews in the blender, 21:13 with one cup of water. 21:15 And this will make the creamy base for it? 21:17 Right, that's our base. 21:20 And the dressing recipe that I'm giving you 21:22 is indeed that a base which is very good by itself 21:26 but you can experiment with it by adding 21:28 leftover fresh herbs that you have in refrigerator. 21:32 Oh, yes. We sometimes will make parsley dressing 21:34 and it makes a light green colored dressing 21:36 that's really pretty and you can use the parsley 21:39 that's kind of getting old meaning to be used. 21:42 Yes, I'm sure you could be quite creative. 21:44 Yes. We're gonna also add some lemon juice to this, 21:48 an eighth of a cup of lemon juice. 21:50 Some times we like a zinc dressing 21:52 and we'll add a quarter cup. 21:54 And the reason why we use lemon juice 21:56 instead of vinegar is because 21:59 vinegar is a nervous system irritant and lemon juice 22:02 is from the fresh fruit of the tree. Okay. 22:05 So we know it's a product 22:06 that God has given His blessing on. 22:08 Yes, you're getting a lot of nice Vitamin C with this too. 22:10 Yes, yes. 22:12 We're gonna add our wonderful, wonderful garlic. 22:16 I love garlic. 22:18 Are good for your food 22:20 and I use about a half a clove in that and it's raw. 22:24 And it doesn't--it loses its bite when it's mixed up 22:28 in the dressing so you don't have to be afraid of that. 22:30 And then a teaspoon of salt and or half teaspoon of salt 22:34 and then we'll blend it up until 22:37 it's nice and smooth. Okay. 22:38 What benefits do you get from the garlic? 22:42 Garlic is an antioxidant. 22:44 Its also antiviral, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, 22:50 it's just so good for you. 22:51 People have used it as a medicine for years. 22:54 Really. Yeah, in some ancient writings 22:56 we read about how they successfully 22:58 treated many problems, ailments with garlic. 23:02 I've experienced in my life 23:04 that garlic is a wonderful health food. 23:07 I love garlic. 23:08 Okay, do we pulse here or just. 23:10 Let's put it on pretty fast because we want, 23:14 of course we want our salad dressing to be very smooth. 23:16 Very creamy, so you would love to run this for a while? Yes. 23:25 I think we turned it on low, let's try it on high. 23:41 Now the way that you can tell if your salad dressing 23:43 is done is wash your hands well. 23:48 Take the lid off and pull a pinch between your fingers 23:52 and if it feels grainy you want to blend it for another cycle. 23:55 If it's nice and smooth then you got a nice smooth dressing. 23:59 And like I said you can add fresh herbs 24:02 to this or dried herbs even--sometimes 24:08 we'll add a little bit of honey with a little bit of basil, 24:11 oregano, parsley, and you have ranch dressing. 24:15 Oh, wonderful. I love ranch. 24:17 This seems to be favorite with a lot of people, ranch. 24:19 Do we have the finished product there? 24:21 Think we forgot to bring it over, 24:22 so we'll just put this on that will be just fine. 24:25 On our beautiful salad that we made to go along 24:29 with our luscious lentil loaf and our vegetable patties. 24:34 Now there's something else that you might want to know 24:37 is that when you put this in a refrigerator 24:39 to chill it will thicken a little bit. 24:41 It won't be quite as thin as this. 24:43 Right. Won't be quite as thin as this. 24:47 Another good thing about this dressing 24:49 is that you can control the amount of salt you use. 24:51 When you buy dressing from the stores, 24:53 sometimes it's quite salty and you can add 24:56 little more and little less to this. 24:58 And that will, you know, give you some-- it's just good 25:01 because you have control over what goes into your food 25:04 instead of buying it from the store and you have 25:05 all these ingredients that you don't even know 25:07 what they are. Well, it's such a simple recipe. 25:09 Yeah, it's quick and easy. 25:10 And it's very important just to have salads in our diet. 25:15 You can even teach your childrenhow to make 25:17 the salad dressing. That's a great idea. 25:18 It's wonderful to have help in the kitchen. 25:21 We're going to take a short break now 25:23 and when we comeback we'll show you all the finished products, 25:26 all the recipes we made today. 25:28 I think you're gonna like it. 25:31 We hope you've enjoyed cooking with Jennifer White. 25:33 Now let's take a moment to review our leftover recipes. 26:46 If you would like information on how you can contact Jennifer 26:49 or if you would like to receive today's recipes, 26:51 please write to 3ABN, PO Box 220, 26:55 West Frankfort, Illinois, 62896. 27:02 Welcome back. 27:03 Well, it doesn't look like leftovers anymore, does it? 27:05 Look at this beautiful meal that we prepared 27:07 using the leftovers in my kitchen. 27:10 It's just amazing what you can do with leftovers. 27:13 We made a good lentil loaf. 27:14 That is a good source of fiber and it's very hearty and filling 27:17 and can be used in many different ways. 27:19 As I said you can even put it cold on sandwiches. 27:22 And we made delicious vegetable patties 27:25 that are also very versatile because 27:27 you can use leftovers--whatever leftover vegetables 27:30 that you have available in them. 27:33 And we topped that made a meal--we topped off 27:35 our meal with some homemade bread 27:38 and a delicious raw salad and we didn't ruin that good 27:41 for you salad with bad for your dressing. 27:44 We made a good healthful dressing 27:47 which was based on cashews 27:48 which are good source of zinc and magnesium. 27:51 Well, Jennifer, I can hardly believe 27:52 we're out of time but thank you, 27:54 so much for coming and sharing 27:55 all these wonderful recipes with us. 27:58 I want you to join us again next time 28:00 and "Let's Cook Together." |
Revised 2014-12-17